Scene #8608: The Least Spooky Night at Lobotomy Corporation Pt. 2

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	The party, now that the haunted house is over with, is fairly understated. The Control Department main room is decorated with black and orange streamers; incredibly suburban, Party-City-feeling paper cutouts of ghosts, pumpkins, spiders, and so on; pumpkins placed around for ambiance, though there's a handful of them all in a row that are oddly obliterated into an orange paste. Probably, both budget-wise and emotionally, Petra felt like the haunted house was enough of a high point that the rest of the party could be used to decompress. There's a few couches and chairs scattered around, with smaller tables beside them, that Petra dragged out of the Control Department lounges. Accordingly, one of those tables was removed from the Chinchilla lounge, and Curupira the Chinchilla himself is in attendance, in his cage. There's some long folding tables laid out, with holiday-appropriate plastic tablecloth covering them, spread with Woz's signature massive array of food that he prepared, at least some of which is in holiday-appropriate containers like cauldrons. The dissonance between the somewhat aged couches and tables, the huge buffet, the haunted house and decor, and the room itself, makes the setup feel like an ungainly chimera of a cozy home party and a corporate office party with a budget. Now that the most important people (Lilian, Angela) have gotten through the haunted house, Qetra sets her cup down and hops off the table she was sitting on to go hang up the curtain outside the Warpgate containment cell, so any latecomers aren't forced to go through the now-useless passageways to get to the party. On her way back over to greet the partygoers, her ditzy, unstable gait causes her to trip over her own fuzzy paws, and she tumbles to the ground and starts giggling. "Nooo~ I can't believe I'm so drunk I can't walk alreadyyyy~" "Huh?? What the fuck? That was alcohol?" "Ahaha!~ It's a party!!" "You-- you're so fucking useless, oh my god! You couldn't even wait until people actually got here?! Are you even able to get drunk??" "Nope! Not really! But, ah, I mean, nooooo, I'm so drunk, I can't stop myself from holding onto L--" Petra whips out Pillar of Creation and starts smacking Qetra in the face with the broom-end of it to shut her up. Qetra, for those who haven't met her yet, is a near-identical clone to Petra, with a few specific differences. Her blonde hair is streaked with metallic purple, her grey eyes have a robotic pattern of concentric circles in them, she has heart hairclips identical to Hibiki's framing either side of her face, and the black and gold collar around her neck-- is exactly identical to the one around Petra's, but at least it fits with Qetra's sexy black cat costume. "I had a wonderful time. Thank you, Petra." "Shut up shut up shut up we're making this party normal, remember? -- Angela!" Petra turns away from Qetra to beam at Angela, clapping her hands together excitedly. "That's-- I'm glad. I honestly wasn't really sure how-- how fake horror would feel to you, so I tried really hard to make it fun." "Especially that sound..." Petra feels like she should recognize Erika, having met her a couple times before, but isn't able to call anything to mind about her. So she nods and gestures vaguely towards the hallway where the rest of the containment cells are, smiling. "Yeah, Fragments really did well. They didn't even freak out too bad at having to go back in the cell, so I think they could tell we were all having fun."
Petra Soroka	"What is the internet?" "Oh! You came!" Petra should've seen Aya in the Warpgate vestibule, but it's entirely possible that her attention was so thoroughly directed towards Lilian and Angela that her vision blurred everyone else out. This is the journalist-- Petra knows that. And Petra... knows her name is... "... Remilaya? Good to meet you somewhere, uh, on purpose, this time. But the scary part should be over now, so that's a dangerous question to ask, ahaha." "It was excellent, Petra. You've done such good work, I really do hope you know how much it's been appreciated~" When Lilian approaches her out of the haunted house, Petra automatically reflects her energy and starts bouncing in place and beaming, exactly like a dog that has no idea what their owner is saying but just gets excited by the tone of their voice. She even tilts her chin up reflexively when Lilian reaches for her cheek, closing her eyes-- then opening them again when Lilian stops, blushing fiercely.
Petra Soroka	"I've gotten ahead of myself. We have a long night ahead of us, Petra, and I'd be thrilled to see what you have to show me." "Y-yes ma'am." Wait, why did Petra say that automatically? Why was... she's being praised, right? Why is there this feeling of horror in her chest? Petra's eyes widen, staring at Lilian in her vampire costume, and-- "I asked Eleanor and Sabrina about it, and they sent me some of these amateur fiction 'blogs' that they read for inspiration." ... Oh god. Petra's face goes pale. She wasn't around to see what expression Lilian must've had when saying that, since Petra had just fallen face-down into the concrete floor after stumbling through the curtain, but-- there's no way she saw the-- that's almost the exact same line! And she's dressed like a vampire! Petra knew, all along, that there was no way the rest of her past sins wouldn't catch up with her. There was no way to hide her deepest misdeeds from Lilian forever. All of this was just borrowed time, a brief window of happiness before the rot oozed back to the surface and Lilian finally got rid of her. ... Maybe she'll just beat it out of me? Hopefully? Instead of getting rid of me? She did say forever before, and-- and tenth code. So that's it, she's just going to forcibly fix me for it. And-- and why else would she say that line? That has to be, to be a threat, that she'll do-- those same kinds of thing-- like Nathaniel-- she'll do that but like to me?? To make me normal?? But-- well that's-- The coherence of Petra's train of thought rapidly breaks down, as dubious as it was even from the start. After being frozen in her deranged little mind for a while, eyes wide and starting to get shiny with tears, she eventually vacantly murmurs out loud while Lilian is still holding her, "I guess... there's the empty containment cell...."
Angela	"Ah, the Internet." Angela begins. "The Internet used to be my only avenue of experiencing what was on the outside world. Of course, allowing me unlimited access to the internet was no go as someone might recognize my existence so I was kept to a limited number of sites, most of which weren't particularly informative. However, one day I attempted a bit of a workaround that led me to a site that promptly infected me with a viral payload. It was unpleasant, but I was shortly barred from engaging in that sort of activity until the multiverse was connected. It is essentially a way to communicate, trade--or as may be of interest to you--tell stories over vast distances without requiring to travel." ''I honestly wasn't sure how--how fake horror would feel to you'' "To be honest, I wasn't certain either. This was very considerate of you, Petra. I think the other Agents had a good time--" GhostHod peeks out from behind some cover, "I..I'm okay! I mean... OoOooOoo...." Angela nods once to her, carefully. She supposes she should mention that bringing out Fragments wasn't something she should have done but.... No. This might be the last time she gets to really enjoy a day like this. This is going to be a tommorow problem. A tommorow problem. SkeleCinder makes her way over to Curupira to play around with him a little bit and feed him a little. MaidChesed and SnackNetzach make their way through, the latter is laughing a little. "If only all days could be like this." "Let's not get greedy. Still feeling like we're--" "Later, let's enjoy the vibes." The two of them make their way to the Chinchilla Lounge though Chesed moves on to prepare some coffee for anyone who wants some of that. And for himself. Parker makes her way over to Random and stops them from leaving to trade costumes leaving the sexy cat quotient at two, M.O.M helps Ya-Boy back up and they sit themselves down at the tables next to one another. Angela watches the food for a moment but she has had a good enough day that her mood isn't too tempered. Besides, some people DO need to eat. Nonon and Shajo come out last with the Tiphereths. Nonon makes her way over to Qetra first and says, "Qetra!! You gotta be careful, if you're drunk you might say all sorts of things!" with her typical good humor. ''I guess... there's the empty containment cell'' Angela blinks. "The containment cells...have windows."
Aya Shameimaru	Aya appears to be perfectly fine with an understated party; this is her first time in a party outside of Gensokyo, after all, and it certainly is interesting to see how other worlds celebrate. She's picked up a hors d'ouevre somewhere along the way, and a flute of champagne. The appearance of what looks like a second Petra is very curious, however. Is this just normal around here? Well, it's not the first time she's seen a doppelganger around... Petra notices her, and Aya smiles quietly and says, "Ah, yes, I did. I enjoyed the haunted house, thank you," with that almost professional, cordial politeness of hers. And her name? "The internet is dangerous, you say? I suppose that makes sense... the name reminds me of a social network of some kind, after all," Aya remarks with seeming lack of guile. But Angela explains the Internet in full, that it used to be her only avenue of experiencing the outside world. There's a bit of uncharacteristic silence at that, as if the words 'outside world' hold meaning to Aya. She tries to puzzle the description out to say, "So it is... a means of visiting other worlds -- 'sites' -- by projecting yourself through them? Some kind of spiritual or astral projection? But, you are able to pick up diseases such as viruses. But this has changed since the Warpgates became a factor." ... she's completely misunderstood.
Gaonoir	Erika laughs as she swats one of her lengths of hair-styled-as-Lopunny-hears out of her face. "I am far from the expert, but I'd think that maybe means they had fun as well." Pause. "If they're capable of feeling such things. At the very least, being out and being able to do something probably felt nice to them." Then looks down to her partner. "What do you think?" Gaonoir just shrugs. "Null if I know. But tell them they did a good job." His head tilts a bit as he turns his attention to some of the other conversations, catching the bit about 'fake horror'. "Might of been fake, but it was more unusual than what you'd see in a haunted house, and that is probably what worked regardless." Dismissively waves a gloved forepaw. "In the end all the matters is people enjoyed it. Or at least that's what Erika keeps saying." "Because it's true," she shoots back.
Timespace Riders	Woz went all out for the food, as he did with Petra's birthday. There is a platter of deviled eggs, marinated in black tea to give the whites a spooky crackled web--each egg is also topped with an olive, halved and sliced to look like a little spider. A cauldron of hearty cream of mushroom soup rests on a low-heat burner, next to a platter of homemade pita chips and pumpkin hummus, their autumnal aromas wafting pleasantly across the spread. A little field of tomato bruschatta shares borders with one of pigs-in-a-blanket, itself nestled close to an expanse of charcuterie overlooked by a deliciously gooey baked brie dip mountain, with a cranberry sauce and walnut peak, complete with a bit of knifework to resemble a howling ghost. Just as before, a wide range of palates and comfort zones are accounted for--one can never be certain who might come to an event like this! Accordingly, the retainer is quite unprepared for Qetra. He grimaces at the display of feigned drunkenness, briefly, before occupying himself with pretending to fuss over the neatness of the spooky tablecloth. Grateful for Angela's interruption as Petra is, he is quick to agree. "Your use of limited space to create distinct, curated experiences was nothing short of masterful," he says, moving over to stir the soup. "Were you in theater or something, Petr...." Sougo asks most of the question before she looks like she's seen a ghostt. "...a? Um, are you okay?"
Kukuru	With things simmering down into a more conventional party, Kukuru's able to finally relax and stroll arund instead of following a decided path. The haunted house was certainly quite enjoyable, but she's had enough excitement for one day. Now, it's time to eat! And make sure Qetra's doing okay, of course, since she looks and sounds a little out of it if Petra's shouting is any indication. "Don't worry, Petra d-... Don't worry." Boundaries. She doesn't want to hurt Petra again, or cause a scene herself. "I'll make sure she's okay and back to eating soon~" Kukuru offers with a helpful smile, squatting by the clone and offering an arm to steady herself with. She's still dressed in that weirdly high-quality but low-taste Spirit Halloween-esque cowgirl outfit, although the hat's hanging off her horns at her back now instead of on her head. "And you, dear... Have you been drinking too muuuch? Did you make sure to eat something before you started?" Shifting a little closer, she holds out an arm to Qetra, ready to hoist her back on her feet if need be and act as a support for walking. "You should eat something if you didn't. If Woz made all this stuff, then you know it's good." She affirms with the utmost confidence, then looks over curiously at Nonon, Shajo, and the Tiphereths when the former reveals her name. "Qetra? Ah, so you're Petra's sister!" She concludes far too willingly, getting distracted briefly by that talk of cells and windows. Sougo's concern has her watching Petra and Lilian briefly, too, waiting for a moment to see if there's something she'll need to get ready for. Recalling that Nothing There is probably somewhere in one of these cells, however, Kukuru quickly turns her attention away from that conversation to focus on Qetra again. Less risk of causing a problem if she doesn't go anywhere near them yet. "Oh! Riiight... My name's Kukuru." Pause, Ku-ku-ru, continue. "It's nice to finally meet you... Did you work on that haunted house, too? Or was it some other stuff around here?"
Meika Kirenai	'What the fuck? That was alcohol?' Overhearing Petra's chastisement of her reflection, Meika pipes in, a hint of worry in her face and voice. "Wait, the- when the invitation said to.. bring beverages, did that mean just soft drinks, Petra?" Her fingers tap on the side of her shouldersbag's strap. Regardless, though, as she hovers by the end of one of the food tables, a stack of plastic cups is enough to prompt her to pull out the bottle in her bag. American bourbon, its brand name stuffy enough and price just high enough to pass as a business gift, from whichever airport it orignated before finding its way to her father's liquor cabinet, where if not for Meika, it would stay, fated to be forgotten about. It's not the kind of alcohol a teenager like her could, or ever would, procure without stealing. Adhesive paper rips, the cap pops, and with shaky hands she fills a solo cup up with- Ack, that's a lot. She steps away, and leaves the bottle in plain sight at the table-end. Looking around the room, flighty as ever, she spots and quickly pulls her eyes away from whatever Qetra being whapped with a spear-turned-broom counts as. The cup comes up to her lip, and immediately wincing, she lunges for one of Woz's plated-out tomato bruschettas, an unorthodox chaser to the alcohol. It's... a taste experience. Is this what Elite parties are like? Is this what- what normal parties are like? Without paying much attention, she gravitates, as all nervous partygoers do, towards the Resident Pet, Curupira, and Cinder, feeding the little critter. "Oh! He's so... oblong. What's- what's that he eats?" Holding onto her cup two-handed, like a lifeline, Zombie Meika tries once more to smile, as muddled as the expression gets with her costume. 'I tried really hard to make it fun.' 'I think the other Agents had a good time-' "The haunted house was.. cool. Really. I've never seen one like it..." She wasn't asked, but without even looking back at Petra, Meika mumbles out a bit of a compliment of her handiwork, occupying herself by wiggling her fingers through the chinchilla's cage. Even the areas of the room her back is turned towards are all too easy to pay attention to, the ambient bustle shaping a clear picture of who is doing what, sabotaging her efforts to not flinch at whatever it is that's going on between Petra and Lilian. The cup comes up to her mouth again, burning liquid swallowed down, and she tries oh-so-hard to pretend nobody, anywhere, is talking of containment cells. All this really amounts to is staring unblinking right at Curupira for a long moment, before, awkwardly, and just a bit too loud, (and forgetting for a second her grudge,) calling out towards Woz: "These bread things are really crunchy!" She picks another bruschetta up, nodding the retainer's way, and bites it, as if that is, itself, resembling a sane compliment.
Lilian Rook	'Yes ma'am', with a stutter inclusive, is so normal to hear from Petra that Lilian simply smiles about it and moves on. This could easily be mistaken for magnaminity about Petra being really weird, because by the time Petra has blurted out something about a containment cell, Lilian is already distracted by-- Lilian had no interest in the chinchilla until she saw him. All thoughts of him being the expensive animal that Hibiki psychotically forced* on Petra leave her mind when she spots a tiny fuzzy animal just chilling out there in the middle of the party, and she has to see him instead. It's fascinating too how much she can fixate on completely banal, cutely suburban things, in the middle of this insanely weird and awkward situation, up until she says something like "You know, I've always wanted a pet." Which, to anyone sane, sounds completely normal, but implicitly reminds anyone exactly why she hasn't ever seen a cardboard ghost or held a pet store hamster. And, to Petra, whom Lilian is not actually looking at enough to see her messy teary face, probably sounds completely unhinged. 'Nooo~ I can't believe I'm so drunk I can't walk alreadyyyy~' Lilian doesn't actually look away from Curupira to say, in 'that's nice honey' tones, "I suppose that's to be expected of her. A clone of a lightweight, but less uptight." She still remembers how quickly Petra gets drinky. Oh, she must have assumed Petra was saying all this weird stuff and acting totally incoherent because she's tipsy! That'd make sense! She even looks back at Petra's face, stares with a stiff little blank-confused smile, and says "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself too? We've only just gotten here. There's still plenty to go over." Lilian is, unfortunately, thinking Petra must be hung up on the birthday incident. Poor girl. 'I..I'm okay! I mean... OoOooOoo....' It is time to lunge after Hod again. Even if she is a little box full of old organs, when she's dressed as a sheet ghost, Lilian can't help but want to pick her up.
Petra Soroka	"Qetra? Ah, so you're Petra's sister!" "Ahaha! Oh, no, you shouldn't say that kind of thing!" Qetra doesn't bother getting up from the ground until Kukuru comes over and helps her. She cheerily grabs on to Kukuru's arm in a way Petra never would deign to, and hoists herself to her feet, still unsteady. "I'm pre~tty sure I can't even get drunk, which is kind of unfair! I was just making fun of Petra for..." She looks over at Petra, who's having a meltdown and about to say something completely insane. "Well... she doesn't need my help to look dumb right now, ahaha." "Ugh, I guess I helped with the haunted house. I mean, it was for Angela and Lilian, so it was worth it, but I still hate lifting things unless they tell me to directly." Qetra wobbles and turns towards Kukuru, raising her paws up cheerfully and smiling. "And of course I know you, Kukuru! You know, it's kind of nice, how awful you are to Petra. You're one of the only ones who admits that she's not part of your group, and that means you can hurt her however you need to, and that's something she wants people like you to say to her, you know?~" "You gotta be careful, if you're drunk you might say all sorts of things!" "Ahaha! But that's funny! Petra's the only one who'll actually be embarrassed from that." Qetra drops her hands and ambles away from Kukuru happily, not giving her another thought, her tail bouncing and collar jingling with each step. She walks straight up to Nonon, cranes her neck up to look at her, and then slowly lowers her eyes to Nonon's bicep and absentmindedly claps her hand onto it. "It's even funnier if she says it all herself, though... so I'll wait for that." "You know, I've always wanted a pet." Petra's freakout tension all drains out of her at once in a relieved sigh. Not even registering that this might refer to anything other than herself, Petra takes this as reassurance that she'll still be kept around. "That's... good... oh, wait, huh?" She turns to look at Lilian and only then notices that she's focused on the chinchilla, and starts blushing. "O-oh-- um. Um. Right. Uh-- oh! I have a bag of dried fruit treats you can feed him! Do you want to!" Her enthusiasm spikes back up again the moment she gets out of her own head and focuses on Lilian's excitement for the party, and she practically skips over to grab the bag and offer to tip a couple of treats into Lilian's hand. "Were you in theater or something, Petr...." Belatedly, now that she's no longer looking at Lilian's face, Petra processes Sougo's words. She looks over at him curiously and makes a little derisive sound. "Hah? Theater? Why would I-- oh, you mean, like, set design stuff? No, I've never done anything like that before." She goes back to petting Curupira for as long as Lilian is there with him, as if that's a complete answer to Sougo's question. "Wait, the- when the invitation said to.. bring beverages, did that mean just soft drinks, Petra?" "Nahhhh...~" It's time for Qetra to join Meika, sliding up behind her while she pours her drink. "She's just mad at me! You shouldn't be worried, Meika. There's, like, other alcohol too, ahaha." Qetra pauses for a second, pressing a finger to her cheek, then tilts her head. Without any other leadup or context, she adds, "It's normal to be scared."
Timespace Riders	"I am glad you like them," says Woz, looking over his shoulder from assembling a couple of plates. Disarmed by Meika's unexpected compliment, there is none of his usual haughtiness. "...I would be happy to share the recipe with you, and you are of course welcome to take any leftovers home." His brown eyes flick towards the bottle of liquor she set down. Then, towards Sougo. The Demon King is still hovering worriedly near Petra--occupied. Woz sighs. He turns fully to face Meika and approaches. "...I am led to understand your world is in the 21st century," he says, hands folded behind his back. Woz looks one way, then the other, lowering his voice so as not to make a scene. "The health risks of underage drinking would therefore be well documented--" And here comes Qetra. So much for not making a whole thing out of it. The retainer shifts uncomfortably, then returns to normal speaking volume, after another sigh. "There is water in the cooler, to the right of the spread, should either of you need it," he says with resignation. "Wow, really?" says Sougo to Petra. "I thought maybe you'd done at least a little set design, the way everything was put together. I guess you'd be pretty good at it if you gave it a shot. The blacklight room was soooo cool! Woz was saying how much he liked the way you muffled the sound, so it was harder to tell how big the room was." "Who's this little fella?" the Demon King asks, nodding towards the chinchilla.
Angela	Angela thinks quietly that it's nice to see Meika doing well. She has no idea what she's thinking but she did seem happier today than she's seen Meika in some time. Meika complimenting Petra, however quietly, does encourage Angela further. This time Hod is too slow, she barelys gets a step away before she's readily caught by Lilian. "ah...Awawawaaaa...!" She squeals in fluent Krathian while the antenna that sort of symbolizes her ahoge sproings out like she is a cartoon character. "Ah Ah...awa..." "...I can show you later," Angela tells Aya, electing to leave it at that. "It'll be easier that way than to explain it with words, I suspect." She looks towards Woz for a moment, thinking about his experience with cooking. Something to add to The List perhaps. "Oh DAMN yeah it's all super tasty...!" Nonon says, already on her second plate but she keeps chatting with Qetra while shoving food into her mouth. "But lifting is how you get swole." Nonon says to Qetra. "......Oh though I guess maybe that's irrelevent for you, so fair!"
Gaonoir	Gaonoir and Erika have also been making their way around the food tables. Digimon take a lot of energy, so there's a good thing there's a lot of food. But they are also paying attention to the conversations as well. "Didn't know you had a sister, Petra. And don't worry about the drinks, I'd prefer soda or tea over alcohol anyways." Gaonoir just nods a bit, and gulps down his mouth of food. "It really is," he agrees with Nonon.
Petra Soroka	"The health risks of underage drinking would therefore be well documented--" Not directly in response to Woz, but also not directly not in response to him, Qetra cheerfully announces her own opinion on underage drinking. "Petra's underage too and I'm going to make her get drunk tonight, mhm~ drinking a solo cup of bourbon is nuts, though, ahaha! I was just going to get shots." Qetra munches on some pigs-in-a-blanket while tagging along with Nonon, even though it's totally unclear if she needs to eat, either. Oh, I'd die if I tried to lift! I think it's better to be weak so strong women can push me around more easily." Petra is otherwise occupied, or Qetra's casually horny chatter would get her another broom-beating. "I was just as weak as usual even when Petra was a robot! Though... I guess I didn't really have a comparison before that... hmmm...." Qetra tries to contemplate the metaphysics of her own existence and gives up after a couple seconds, closing her eyes and vacantly smiling instead. "I guess you'd be pretty good at it if you gave it a shot." "Oh... huh. I don't know if I want to? I'm not super interested in that, I guess." Petra is crouched down between the table that Curupira is on and the couch, sticking a finger through the bars to pet him. "I only really cared that much because it was Angela and Lilian. So I just thought about what would be good for them." Petra delicately unlocks the top of the cage and holds her hand inside so that Curupira can climb on. She looks absolutely delighted when he does, and slowly lifts her arm up so the chinchilla scrambles up to sit on the shoulder of her witch costume. She mutters, 'like a familiar...' then says to Sougo, "This is Curupira. I slept on the floor for a month because of all the stuff I had to buy when Tachibana got him for me." Petra excitedly goes to show off her shoulder chinchilla to Cinder, walking slowly and smoothly so she doesn't disturb him. "Look! Look. Look. He's just-- he's right there! Look at him!" There was, actually, a reason that Petra specifically set Cinder up to be the first encounter in the haunted house, and why she stuck along with the group like she did. Petra had given her a task-- to document the kinds of things that Lilian and Angela (and Cinder herself) responded well to. "You know, a lot of people are mentioning liking the Violet room, which makes me kind of happy? That's the kind of thing I like a lot too." Then over to Aya, because Petra feels like it's very important that she makes a good impression on the journalist. She's still walking very slowly to accomodate for the chinchilla perched on her shoulder, so it takes her a bit to get there. "I guess, the coolest thing about the internet-- I mean, I'm guessing, if you're interested in the same kinds of-- if you like this kind of thing. Which I'm assuming. Because of your-- yeah." Whatever mental block Petra has with regards to saying that she shares the same interests as the journalist hasn't been solved overnight, it seems. "It's got, like-- a genuinely unbelievable amount of information. More than you could read in a million lifetimes, like, actually. Even just for Elite stuff-- there's wiki articles for practically every one, talking about who they are, linking to articles about everything they've done, linking to things other people have written about them, it's crazy. It's like, all the knowledge in the entire world." Petra hesitates for a few seconds, thinking. "A lot of the rest of the internet sucks. But that part's cool."
Kukuru	Different as she is from Petra, Qetra still knows just how to get Kukuru's mood right back up! Granted, that's not very hard when there's any kind of affection or acceptance of her own affection involved, but it's still enough to keep the smile firmly on Kukuru's face. "Aw, why not? Are you not sisters?" Beat, then she nods slowly in understanding. "Yeah, I guess it would be kinda weird if you weren't and someone said that, huuuh? Alriiight. But..." Should she be glad for Qetra, or sad? On one hand, no hangovers. On the other hand, not being able to get drunk. "That does sound unfair, mhm... But at least you get to save money this way. You can just buy tasty stuff without worrying about it making you feel bad later." Kukuru chimes in, finding the silver lining easily enough while watching Petra's freakout simmering down in real time. Remembering to bring out her own little flask of self-brought booze, Kukuru takes a quick swig of that while beaming at Qetra. "The important thing is you helped out, and it turned out really good! Nice and scary, but not too freaky... Oh. And that screaming noise sounded super real, too." Nodding lightly and savoring her drink again for a moment, Kukuru's expression goes blank as Qetra starts talking about Petra wanting her to hurt her. "Wh... Wha? Huh? She wants me to...? Really?" Kukuru's confusion visibly spreads across her face, struggling to process what she's just heard and not knowing how to respond to Qetra even after she's already off to mingle with Nonon and Meika. "But why would...? Don't people already... Huh?" It's going to take her a while to try and figure all this out. As she tries to get those thoughts sorted out, Kukuru finds herself drifting back to the food, and that means seeing... Meika! With booze! "Be careful with that, okaaay? You don't wanna drink too much, or you'll feel gross in the morning." She warns, then breaks into her usual vacant smile while turning to Woz. "She'll be okaay. Ah, good job on the food, Wozzy. You really outdid yourself this time, huh?" She comments while piling up plate #2 (only! She's been slow eating today), already taking a few bites out of her pile while sliding over to nudge his arm gently. "Are you okay? Do you wanna take a break? I can help take care of stuff here if you're worried." Kukuru offers, smiling reassuringly to try and put forth an air of reliability even though she's also stuffing her face at the same time. Gaonoir's comment about Petra's 'sister', has Kukuru leaning over to stage-whisper. "Oh, Qetra said not to say that. Maybe it's a..." She trails off, trying to figure out what the possibilities could be. A body double? No, too different. A twin? Likely, but that wouldn't explain the secrecy. A half-twin? "... We should pretend there's nothing going on." She recommends after another moment with a firm nod.
Meika Kirenai	'...welcome to take any leftovers home.' "Oh, um, I... might, actually. If you're sure it's okay. Thanks." She fidgets for a moment, and scratches at her sleeve absentmindedly. "...My little sister might like them, and... I haven't gotten as much chance to bring nice things back for her, lately..." 'You shouldn't be worried, Meika. There's, like, other alcohol too, ahaha.' Meika's spine stiffens as Qetra approaches. Awkward party moment, someone you think is dressed obscene and have been avoiding glaring at sneaks up behind you! Politeness dictate she be, well, polite, but Petra's explanation that she's not quite a person anyways makes it a little easier to stay staring down at her own reflection in the cup than face the reflection beside her. "Ah, aha... right. My bad. I should have guessed." Apologetic smiles don't work as well when they're not quite at someone, so she does break her avoidance to flash one, on instinct. She regrets it at Qetra's cryptic followup. "W-wait, what's that supposed to mean? I'm- I'm not scared. Nothing's scary, here. I mean, the.. haunted house, was, but..." She trails off, swirling her drink, and takes another heavy sip of it, instead of letting her facial expressions betray her words more. 'The health risks of underage drinking would therefore be well documented--' Meika rolls her eyes in Woz's direction. She gestures up to her face, and does a small little zombie shuffle his way. "Oops. I think I'm already dead, Mister." She keeps her tone deadpan (hah) for a moment, before the magical girl breaks out into a giggle, and grabs another bruschetta to munch. 'I was just going to get shots.' "Shots? What's..." Meika's startled confusion at the comment on what and how she's drinking reeks of unfamiliarity with party trends and formats. One hand leaves from clutching the cup, and itches at her opposite forearm, knuckles pressing against her artificially stained-and-torn white cotton sleeves. "I'm not nuts, it's still just alcohol, right..?" 'You know, I've always wanted a pet.' "You've.... never had one, Miss Rook? But you're... Are you too busy for one...? You've got a job, and get paid, and all that, right? Isn't that all you'd really..." Her habit of trailing off mid thought doesn't seem helped by the ever-growing tipsiness seeping in to the base of her skull, as she stares at Curupira, the current Party Centerpiece.
Gaonoir	Gaonoir and Erika both 'Oooooh' softly and nod their heads in response to Kukuru. Nothing going on, let's just stick to the eating after the haunted house shenanigans.
Lilian Rook	'Wait, the- when the invitation said to.. bring beverages, did that mean just soft drinks, Petra?' "I certainly hope not. I don't touch the stuff." Lilian says, about the wrong subject of the two things in that sentence. "If you're concerned about what's on offer, feel free to blame Petra. We don't believe in that twenty one drinking age nonsense in Europe." Yes, she is flexing her card here to be the Cool Foreigner where the Underaged Drinking is Normal and not Rebellious. 'Uh-- oh! I have a bag of dried fruit treats you can feed him! Do you want to!' "You know, Petra. I think I'd love to try feeding." says Lilian. She really isn't doing it on purpose. "Though I'm actually surprised to hear you've never taken the stage. I was in agreement with Tokiwa that it seemed quite likely. You seem to have a certain affinity for it." she says. "Not reciting lines, of course. I'd trust you to flub 'have a good day' under the right circumstances." Once Lilian is done spinning Hod around and telling her what a wonderful job she did, how cute she is, and generally being effusive about a little box creature, putting her back down in Angela's care, Lilian--'I think it's better to be weak so strong women can push me around more easily.' --snorts quietly and stops it with a dry cough. 'Even just for Elite stuff-- there's wiki articles for practically every one, talking about who they are, linking to articles about everything they've done, linking to things other people have written about them, it's crazy.' And then she says "Oh? I'd never thought to give those websites the time of day. After all, the Paladins have their own dossiers, and I compile my own private databases about individuals of interest anyways. If your opinion of them is so high, however, I may be convinced to see if there's anything valuable to learn." Lilian is already in the process of Acquiring fruit treats from Petra. "Perhaps I'll read yours, too~ I'm certain it'll say something very different from our files." She is also in the middle of unpacking what she brought; apparently she'd brought her messenger bag under the assymetricall worn cloak. One white. One red. One sake. Tried and true brands on previous Elite social occasions. "It was all lovely. But Violet did tell me quite a bit about what you think of space." Lilian says. 'You've.... never had one, Miss Rook? But you're... Are you too busy for one...?' "Not particularly, but my parents loathed the idea." That explains why she didn't have one when she was younger at least. "I've always fancied having a cat, though. Perhaps in a few more years."
Meika Kirenai	'We don't believe in that twenty one drinking age nonsense in Europe.' "Oh, um, I'm- I'm sure that there's a reason it's what it is, there. Just like what it is at home, too. But it's..." She glances down to her cup, and shrugs. "...Yeah. It's... nice, that nobody makes it a problem where you're from, though, it sounds like" 'Not particularly, but my parents loathed the idea.' "Oh. Yeah. That makes sense." She takes a sip, swallowing back a cough. "Cats are-" Meika's gaze, for a split second, flicks over at Qetra, the neuron linkage shorting from 'cat' to 'cat costume', and the girl balks. "...They're.. good pets. It's kind of nice to see the strays when they're out, in.. the early mornings, and all. That's.." Plastic crinkles as her grip tightens on her cup, a bit. "Why though, in... a few years..? Is something happening then..?" 'Be careful with that, okaaay? You don't wanna drink too much, or you'll feel gross in the morning.' "I'll- I'll be fine." In all likelyhood, Kukuru's worrying will be entirely correct. Meika huffs, and rolls her eyes a little, once the woman leaves towards Woz, though, and squeezes at her own forearm. Ultimately, still gentler than she was with the retainer, though, and there's no sort of angry glare to go alongside that all. I'm not fragile like that. Leave me alone.
Angela	Hod can't blush (her Cognition Filter self is so red that it covers her entire face) but she can only stammer through the effusive praise until she's finally set back down in Hod's arms, her singular eye has developed a @ shape as she quietly stammers a, "Th.th.th.th.th....thank you Commander waah..." WARNING: HOD IS NOW TUCKERED OUT Angela holds Hod near Curupira so Curupira can get a few sniffs of Hod like she's introducing pets to each other so they don't get rowdy in each other's presence anymore. "You did well, Hod." Angela says, pretty much entirely because it seemed to bolster Lilian's mood. She was a pretty a-boo-rable specter. Angela thinks about whether to ask about Petra's stories again but elects to keep that question for later since she already seems a bit overwhelmed. She is pretty much done giving Meika warnings of her own--they never seemed to work. Cinder straightens up to pet the chinchilla as well, but only when there's a break in other pettings so as to not overwhelm the animal. "Oh yeah it seemed like everybody loved the Violet Room. And the food..." Cinder blinks. "Oh shoot I should snag some of the food, don't get to eat Woz's cooking every day." She makes her way over to collect a plate for herself, at leaset. Angela looks over to Petra as she describes the internet. She is curious about what's the coolest part of the internet and--well, she's inclined to agree with that. "It is a nice way to keep myself occupied even if it the information can be taken in too quickly to really be as enjoyable for me as a book, but it's a nice second option." She nods her agreement that a lot of the internet does suck though what she thinks sucks is probably a little different from Petra considering she can be infected by viruses by it apparently. Nonon says, "Oh that suu--" ''I think it's better to be weak so strong women can push me around more easily!'' "Oh! Like Shajo!" Nonon says. "Birds of a feather I guess." Shajo chokes on his punch but, of course, doesn't argue. "I like one woman pushing me around, at least." He says. Nonon looks over to Gaonoir and adds, "Haven't seen you around before. Hate to say it but L-Corp isn't usually this festive. Glad you got to have a good first experience."
Timespace Riders	"Curupira... that's a good name. He's really cute!" Sougo beams especially brightly when Petra mentions the feedback she got for the Violet Ordeal. "I know Angela and Lilian were the main focus, but I really appreciate you opening this up for everybody. That was really fun, and it was nice to see that creative side of you," says Sougo, unaware that in a way he's seen it more than once tonight. Woz shoots Qetra a silently sour look as she departs for the food. Kukuru gives him something to focus on besides his disdain for someone he's just met today. "...thank you, Kukuru. I am well. In truth, there is no need to man the concessions. I was simply... pretending, earlier." It hadn't done him any good, really. "As I said, I cannot truly stop you," says Woz to Meika. "You may wish you truly were dead in the morning, depending on how closely you heed my advice." Noticing her confusion, Woz once again lowers his voice, to try and explain without drawing too much attention. "What you've brought is very strong," says Woz. " Hence, why I mentioned the water. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. Liquor like that is typically had in a shot glass." He uses his thumb and forefinger to demonstrate a roughly similar size. "A plastic cup like that may hold several shots' worth. If you insist on drinking, at least allow me to mix you something less... onerous."
Aya Shameimaru	The chinchilla on the shoulder certainly gets a look from Aya, a slow smile rising up her lips. She displays a bit of confusion as to what's stopping Petra, but lets her finish as she explains her view of the internet. An 'unbelievable amount of information', 'moer than you could read in a million lifetimes'... "I see... it sounds like the largest newspaper to have ever existed. Or, perhaps, a library," Aya makes at least a more informed connection. "Who they are, everything they've done..." A lingering pause, as her smile gets a bit sadder -- maybe more enigmatic? "I would hope that whoever writes all these articles is kind to these people. But, thank you, Miss Angela, I'm certain I would find it very interesting." Lilian gives her own viewpoint, which Aya does find interesting too. Where one is enamored with it, the other wouldn't give it the time of day. "There can... be a lot of truths about an individual, after all," she quietly remarks, before blinking to smile and say, "Ah, my name is Aya, it's nice to meet you."
Gaonoir	Gaonoir chuckles a bit at Nonon. "Don't worry about it." He picks up a drink and chugs it down. Wipes his mouth off with the back of a forearm. "I can tell this... unusual. And have seen much, much worse in my time." He nods his head towards Erika. "That's why we came, she figured this would have stuff that'd at least get some reaction out of me, and she was right." Erika doesn't say much at the moment, because she's still eating.
Lilian Rook	'Just like what it is at home, too.' "The prohibition era, like everywhere else." Lilian says. "In another time, I'd say they had a very good point, and it's a shame it didn't stick. Seeing as I live in reality, though . . ." She actually looks at Meika this time. "We're all beholden to the neurotic fixations of men a hundred years ago." 'Why though, in... a few years..? Is something happening then..?' "Nothing individually special, I suppose. I'll have my d--egree at the end of this year, so by then I should be more settled, have more space, you know, just a little bit more certainty." Lilian says, absolutely nailing sounding as vaguely noncommittal as possible. She is plating up Woz's cooking on the side; she didn't get to enjoy it at Petra's birthday, so now she's quite thankful to have the opportunity to try. "I'm still not certain what I want to do about the house, honestly. And of course I'd need to make certain" Lilian is already helping herself to what Meika brought. Perhaps that's just polite? "To say nothing of the logistics along the way. Not that I don't have plans." Once she has everything in order, she wants to take a minute to lean down and get her chincilla feeding in. Wide-eyed adoration of tiny animals eating fruit snacks out of her palm is not something she plans to miss out on.
Kukuru	Meika assures Kukuru she'll be fine, so Kukuru finds no other reasons to be worried. She seems like a smart girl, after all, and she'll worry more later if she needs to! That gives her more brainpower to focus on that curious admission from Woz about pretending to handle the food at present. It's hard not to hide that she really wants to ask why, but what if he doesn't want it to be a thing? Better to be discreet about it. That's why she waits until after he gives Meika some tips on handling the liquor to approach him again, still inwardly relieved that he's giving Meika that more directed info, and all the more worried about what he said after the fact. "Do you wanna... Talk about stuff? Or if now's not a good time..." She asks in a quieter tone, clearly trying not to draw attention while still having to lean in just to make sure he can actually hear her through the ambient volume of a party going on. As she whispers, she also catches a glimpse of Curupira, and her attention wavers at seeing Lilian feeding the chinchilla. She wants to touch it so badly. Just once. Just a little nudge. But... Focus! She turns back to Woz with an apologetic smile, then pats his arm gently while offering him her flask. Whatever's in there smells pretty strong, too. "You know you can come to me about anything. Okay, Wozzy? Whatever, whenever, even if it has to stay quiet." She murmurs, going even quieter for emphasis.
Meika Kirenai	'You may wish you truly were dead in the morning, depending on how closely you heed my advice.' "Oh, cool." For the first time this whole night, Meika tries to make eye contact with Woz, and downs the entire rest of her cup in a single attempt. Spite is a good motivator to stomach the acetone hell of that much of it all, all at once, but she does her best to mask the cough it stirs up. "Tomorrow's not- not now. It's- Mass, work, and- and our family meeting, so. Nothing in that all will change with however much I feel like... yeah." 'A plastic cup like that may hold several shots' worth.' Rattling the now-drained cup, she puts on a half-serious grimace. "Aha. I'm doing it wrong, huh. Too late." Meika steps his way, and hands him the plastic cup. "If- if you insist on making me something different, then, mix away!" The giggle she lets out doesn't have nearly any of the edge she's forced into her voice, and even that tone drops away after a second. "Your cooking's good. Is.. that also something you know how to do well?" A strangely peaceful question to follow that all up, as her heel squeaks, twisted back and forth, her hands now free and lacking something to fidget with. An out of place "Thanks" escapes past her lips, his way. 'We're all beholden to the neurotic fixations of men a hundred years ago.' The heel squeaking stops immediately, as Lilian properly looks her way. "It's- Huh? Neurotic..?" Her brow furrows, for a moment. "But- well, you- you heard Mister Woz. It's not... crazy rules, for no reason. It's..." She trails off, anxiously drumming fingertips against fabric as her arms cross in front of her chest, concern that what's coming out of her mouth will find a way to bite her. "Um. A-anyways. Congratulations, on that... degree?" She's hesitant, the slight gap enough to have her questioning hearing correctly, with all the background noise she's picking up as well. "It's neat that you're getting one. I- I don't think I'd even be able to- Ah. I- That sounds like a lot on your plate, I mean. A pet- a cat would... Yeah. Wouldn't want more in the way..." She nods a few times, and blinks, unfocused, before picking up a new plastic cup, having realized that hers is gone, and forgetten for that second it's still in existence, but just with Woz.
Petra Soroka	"Be careful with that, okaaay? You don't wanna drink too much, or you'll feel gross in the morning." Qetra, without a care in the world, casually responds to Kukuru's warning towards Meika with, "You're such an annoying busybody, ahaha," not even looking at her. "W-wait, what's that supposed to mean?" "Oh... um..." Qetra, forced to explain a thought that she only barely managed to grasp on to for a moment, fumbles around for a second. "You know. You understand what I mean. So I don't need to explain it." "You know, Petra. I think I'd love to try feeding." With Curupira on her shoulders, Petra bending down and tilting her head to expose her neck is a plausible response to any interpretation of that phrase. The feeling of being around Lilian while she plays with Hod and enthusiastically feeds Curupira on her back is enough that Petra is bubbly and content even while remaining a silent pedestal for the chinchilla, leaning on Pillar of Creation and closing her eyes to bask in it. "You seem to have a certain affinity for it." "I dunno... theater people are all... you know? I guess I could enjoy doing the actual work, maybe, but I don't think I'd fit in with the other people." Petra makes an uncertain noise, clearly mulling the idea over, but probably the wrong part of it. "I just feel like... theater doesn't do anything for me? I don't know if it'd really be something I could keep up being interested in. A-anyways, I-I-I don't know that I'm that bad at-- well. Maybe." "Perhaps I'll read yours, too~" "A-ah-- well, it's, like-- it's, you know, all just written by civilians and stuff, so-- I mean, lots of them are like, actual professionals, but still not Elites or anything. So their perspective on-- on articles is usually more geared towards, like, that." Petra stammers, slightly alarmed at Lilian's interest in her wiki article-- it's documentation of her villainy, which is expected, as well as extensive documentation of her relationship with Lilian, which might not be. Like she says, the only stuff that gets filled out is whatever individual contributors decide to write. Despite her alarm, though, she's too excited about the topic not to keep rambling on it. "It's cool to have that second perspective, I think. I mean, first perspective, too, back before I was-- before I was here. Seeing like-- only what people see, not actually anything to do with the Elite's personal feelings? You know? Like a solely external examination of how they affect the world. It's totally different from what-- what I imagine the Paladins have."
Petra Soroka	"But Violet did tell me quite a bit about what you think of space." "I don't know if... it's worth psychoanalyzing like that..." Petra makes an uncomfortable noise, then shrugs, causing Curupira to grip her shoulder with his tiny little feet in alarm. "Well, not that I'd say that to you. I-I don't really know what you might've taken from it though." "I've always fancied having a cat, though." Even before Meika looks over to her, Qetra's already perked up at Lilian's words, waving to Lilian with a paw and a smug little smile. After that, though, Qetra joins the chinchilla circle, leaning in to Petra in a moment where she's free. "Heyyy~ ajoeto, I brought you a shot." "You've literally been talking about how you want me to get drunk enough to make a fool of myself this whole time." "Yeah, but you know, Lilian's always liked you better that way~ imagine what it'll be like now!" "I'm not that easy to trick; I'm smarter than you, dumbass. I'm literally a million steps ahead of you. You must have amnesia," "You forgot that I'm him!" The pair finish the line at the same time and Petra snorts, then takes the shotglass and slams it back, apparently... being that easy to trick?
Kukuru	Meika drinks the entire thing at once. Kukuru's eyes widen, and she looks like she's about to panic herself, but stops abruptly to breathe in. Breathe out. She's probably got good and responsible parents that care about her, right? Right! They'll take good care of her, and she'll learn how to not drink so much to want to die. Satisfied with her own prediction of how Meika's morning will be following this party, Kukuru can then focus on Qetra sniping her out of nowhere. Her composure cracks, and she lets out a strained noise before pulling her hat back up and promptly munching on the biggest chunk of meat on her plate. It's probably not all that big since she grabbed a bunch of small things again, but muffling the distressed noises is the important thing so as to not disturb the party. She still looks like she wants to a cry a little. Qetra sounded like she was fond of her earlier, after all, and she still has that confusing thing Qetra said earlier fresh in her mind.